"Things are going quite fine. Better than what I would have hoped for." Mr. Cosmo said with a grin. He could feel Ms. Saffron's eyes on him. He could feel her confusion. All he did in response to that was to keep smiling. "Those boy's parents are easier to play than a fiddle."

Ms. Saffron remained quiet, hanging back away behind the man. She made a few sounds as though she were struggling to speak. Of course she would. She still didn't fully understand just what it is that he wanted to do. She would come to understand eventually. She just needed a little bit of time. Perhaps he should explain more of his plan to her so that she had a better grasp.

He turned his head and looked at her. He watched as she fumbled with her hands, her body shaking just slighlty. She opened her mouth to speak, only to stop herself. It was some sight to witness. He couldn't help but soften his expression just a little bit. He hadn't intended on making her feel stressed out.

Mr. Cosmo moved in closer towards her, taking his time. Ms. Saffron, though taller than him, still seemed to shrink a little as he got closer. Was she fearful of him hurting her? No, that couldn't be it. Maybe she was just afraid of accidentally offending him. After all, he didn't exactly react the best way earlier. He licked his lips slowly. Perhaps he should have tried to handle that in a better manner.

Slowly, he reached out to touch Ms. Saffron on the shoulder. "At ease now, woman. No need to be so nervous." He tilted his head upwards a little. "You should be proud. You did your job like you were supposed to. Keep this up, and everything will fall into place."

Ms. Saffron shuffled uncomfortabley. "S-Sir, are you sure that we should be doing this?"

"Oh come now, you signed up for this, remember? I know you want to make the world a better place. And with me, you will." Mr. Cosmo said with a smile. He moved himself closer, causing Ms. Saffron to move back slightly. Mr. Cosmo let his hand move along her cheek, caressing it with the back of his hand. "I know you are as smart as you are beautiful."

Ms. Saffron stammered at this. "S-Sir, I..." She couldn't bring herself to continue, for something had gotten in the way of her speech.

Mr. Cosmo's lips.

The man kept his lips pressed up against Ms. Saffron's for a few seconds before parting. The sudden, out-of-nowhere kiss caused Ms. Saffron to freeze, her eyes going wide as she stared at her boss in shock. He just smiled back at her before turning around and taking a few steps away as though nothing had happened.

Mr Cosmo's face turned serious as a thought crossed his mind. As it remained in his head, it started to burn a little and he had to struggle to fight it off. He looked back at Ms. Saffron, his flirtatious face gone, his eyes narrowed into slits. The woman immediately stiffened up at this. Using Ms. Saffron's silence to his advantage, he started to speak up.

"Remember, there's a lot at stake here. I told you what could happen if we don't do something about this." Mr. Cosmo's voice came in a warning tone. "I cannot stress enough how much trouble we will be in if something isn't done soon." He gave pause for a moment before he leaned in a little towards Ms. Saffron. "Do you understand me?"

The blonde woman swallowed hard for a moment, licking her lips, before nodding her head. She didn't attempt to speak, obviously still shaken up by the sudden kiss earlier.

Mr. Cosmo turned his attention to the chalkboard that he stood close to. A simple object with a simple design and simple coloration. To many, it was just a means of expressing ideas and to try to teach people stuff. But for him, it meant something so much more than that. The sight of this chalkboard alone was enough to elicitate thoughts of awe and wonder...but also fear. And it was this fear that was helping to guide him through this. He did not want to make a mistake.

He made himself a promise. And he intended on keeping that promise. He was going to make sure that his plan would succeed. He cannot fail this. Not while there was a chance that... He forced himself to stop. He needed to focus his time on pushing his plan forward.

sss

"It was pretty weird, Penny. I'm not sure what to think..." Rudy admitted, his voice low and soft.

When Penny came over to her friend's place to ask him about how things went, she did carry a sense of caution with her. A part of her had a feeling that she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear. And it turned out that she was right, although it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Honestly, this was better than what she had experienced in ChalkZone.

She had tried to find Snap to no avail, and the closest lead that she got nearly got her ripped up by a wild zoner. She gritted her teeth at the memory. She wasn't even sure what all had led up to it. She was just glad that she got out of that situation.

Penny, not wanting to be silent for much longer, reached her hand out towards Rudy, placing it on his arm. She rubbed it up and down slowly as she whispered to him, "It's done and over with at least. You don't have to see that man ag..." She stopped when Rudy looked at her. "Rudy..?"

The boy said, "Mr. Cosmo wants me to come back soon." He sighed as he lowered his head. "My parents are going to decide the time. I have no say."

Penny stared at Rudy for a few long moments, trying to figure out if she had heard that right. When it became obvious that it was, she let out a small sigh, accompanied by a low growl. "Shouldn't they have spoken to you about that? I mean.." She motioned her hand to Rudy. "I know we're still young, but at age fifteen, shouldn't we both have some level of consent for this? Couldn't your folks have asked you what worked for you?"

Rudy shook his head. "They didn't think it was necessary." He lowered his head. He started to chuckle softly, an act that Penny didn't expect him to do after expressing his worry earlier. "Well it might not be too bad, anyway. It's just a meeting. Mr. Cosmo's probably just going to tell my folks the same old stuff and get me to take another test and..." His voice trailed off and he sighed. "I don't really know what to do."

Penny watched her friend in silence, struggling to think of a response herself. She didn't know what she could tell Rudy and she didn't know what might help him feel better. She was just as confused as he was and she didn't have a clue on how best to approach this.

Except, of course, to take caution.

But that wasn't what was truly on Rudy's mind. The thing with Mr. Cosmo and Ms. Saffron was actually taking a back seat to something that they both agreed was far more serious.

She could tell that he was still thinking about Snap and those missing zoners. The look in his eyes gave it away. Rudy could try all that he wanted to, but he wasn't going to be able to hide this fact from her. She knew him long enough to tell these things. As she stared at him intently, as Rudy continued to keep his head away from her, she reached out slowly and she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Rudy shuddered before looking back at her.

"Rudy, it's going to be okay." Penny did flinch a little when she noticed how she sounded. She didn't sound exactly the most confident and... She tried to ignore that as she focused on attempting to reassure her friend. "We'll go into ChalkZone and we will try to find Snap. I promise you, we will find him."

Rudy, however, didn't look entirely convinced. He just gave a small snort and grunt, raising his lip up slightly. "You keep saying that, but I'm not sure if I believe you."

Penny flinched at this.

Rudy continued, "Neither of us know where they could be and..." His eyes suddenly widened as his voice trailed off. "Wait a minute..."

Penny tilted her head to one side in confusion. "What is it?"

Rudy raised his finger up, waggling it a little as he struggled to speak. He looked away for a couple of seconds, his tongue tripping over his lips and teeth. He only spoke gibberish for a while, intermixed with a few little words here or there. Then finally, he looked at Penny and said, "I-I do remember something! I forgot to tell you... Rapsheeba said she saw the shadow of the creature heading back towards where Mr. Cosmo's place is and..." He froze at this.

It didn't take a genius to know exactly what was being implied here. Penny spoke carefully in a hushed tone. "Do you think that it's possible that...?" She couldn't bring herself to finish.

"I-I don't know. I mean, I could see the connection, but it might also be a coincidence..."

Penny nodded her head slowly. That was true. It might just be a coincidence. Or it might be something more. There was only one way to tell. And she knew that Rudy knew this as well. She remained quiet and let him continue.

"It's at least a place to start looking. It's better than nothing, right?"

"That is true." Penny agreed. She looked over at the chalkboard for a few moments before looking back at her friend. She narrowed her eyes slowly into slits. Not with anger towards Rudy, but towards the one who had caused this mess in the first place: Draow. "Perhaps we should head in now."

Rudy stared at her for a few moments before nodding his head affirmatively. "Yeah, I agree." He bit his lip for a moment, sucking on it. "I just hope that no more harm has been done to ChalkZone since I was there last."

Penny looked at him reassuringly. "Even so, I don't think the zoners will blame you."

"I hope you are right." Rudy said before got out his magic chalk and went over to draw the portal.

Penny watched him sadly, wishing that she could say more to reassure him. She wanted to believe that the zoners wouldn't blame him for what was happening. They usually didn't. But there was always that chance that something could happen. Nothing like this has ever happened before. The zoners might shift more dramatically this time around. They just had to hope that, if that did happen, the zoners won't get in the way of figuring out the truth of what was happening.

With the portal drawn, the two teenagers headed inside. After erasing the portal, they two looked at each other and then back at ChalkZone, looking around. They felt a little weird at first as they looked around and saw no sign of Snap. They were half expecting him to come up and greet them. When that didn't happen, they both felt a sting in their stomachs. They fought it off the best that they could as they headed in deeper.

Glancing around, neither of them could really see anything wrong at first. At least, nothing that caught their eye. Rudy's house relative to ChalkZone was a bit further out from the city and from where most zoners lived. So that didn't surprise them too much. In order to get a better idea of just what was going on, they headed towards the city.

As it came into view, the place was eerily silent. Penny had to fight off a cold shudder and she could see Rudy doing the same. Neither of them were used to a quiet city in a world like this. Even the chitter chatter of the numerous stick figure zoners was not heard anywhere here. This made them grow increasingly nervous as they began to step foot into the city.

It continued to be quiet even as they got closer to what should be the main square of the city, where most of the action takes place. But even this area was empty and devoid of life. Both teens are aware that this was because they told them to stay in their homes, but it didn't change the fact that this was creepy as shit.

Penny could feel a cold rush going through her body as she felt as though she were being watched. She looked around for a quick second, seeing the buildings all around her. She could see no one, but she was certain that some of the zoners were watching her and Rudy carefully. Some of them may even be glaring at them, wondering why they hadn't caught the flying monster yet. Penny tried her best to shake off the feeling as she and Rudy continued to look around.

The buildings didn't seem to be damaged. Draow either didn't come back to harrass them more or he hadn't thought thought of actually attacking the buildings directly. Maybe he just didn't want to bother? Well at least that still left the buildings a safe place to be. For now...

Suddenly they could hear someone shouting at them.

"Rudy? Penny? Is that you?"

The two teens turned their heads, but they didn't need to look to see who this was. There was no way that they would mistake that accept for anyone else.

It was Spy Fly.

"Hey there." Rudy said quietly as he waved his hand upwards. "It's good to see you."

Penny nodded her head. "I'm so glad that you weren't taken by that thing."

"What thing? Oh... You mean the big furry creature?" At the teens' nod, Spy Fly said, "I'm a bit too fast for someone like him. But I am said that he still managed to take our own. I try to warn them, but even that isn't enough." She shrugged her shoulders a little, looking rather down. "I just hope that they are okay."

"Yeah, me too..." Rudy murmured softly.

Penny took a step forward. A thought came across her mind. "Spy Fly, is it all right if I ask you a couple of questions?"

"Oh sure!" Spy Fly spoke, gesturing with her hand.

Penny felt a little cautious of the first question, but still asked it anyway. "Has anyone else been taken since the last time me and Rudy were here?"

Spy Fly tapped her finger against the side of her face thoughtfully. Then she said, "I did hear Bathtub Granny has gone missing." Her face expressed the utmost sympathy to the two teenagers.

Rudy sucked in a sharp breath at this. "Another one..."

Penny looked at her friend sadly before turning her attention back to Spy Fly. "And my second question..." Spy Fly listened intently to what she was about to say. Penny drew in a deep breath and said, "Have you gotten any footage of what happened?"

Spy Fly stared at Penny for a moment before her tiny head nodded once. "I believe I do..." She rubbed the back of her head. "Though everything recently has a been a blur." She motioned to the two teens and said, "How about I go and look for it, if it exists?" She suggested. "If I find anything, I'll let you know."

Penny nodded her head slowly, as did Rudy. They both silently agreed with this. If Spy Fly has any sort of footage that could help them, it was going to make things a lot easier. Or at least, they hoped that it would. In any case, it was still their best shot at finding their captured friends.

They said nothing as Spy Fly left, venturing out back to her home in order to find the footage that she might have. As she disappeared, Penny looked over at Rudy, whose head was down and his eyes looking desperate. Penny reached out and touched his shoulder to comfort him. Rudy didn't attempt to speak or react to her touch. Penny wasn't sure how to react to this.

With nothing else that they could think of to do and with them not wanting to pester the frightened zoners in hiding, both Penny and Rudy decided it was best to just leave the city and explore the areas outside of it. Maybe they could find some clues out here while they awaited for Spy Fly's report. It was better than nothing.

But when they headed on out, they were suddenly greeted by someone.

"Rudy Tabootie! Penny Sanchez!" Biclops called out, raising his hand upwards.

Penny asked, "Shouldn't you be watching the mines?"

"I have that covered." Biclops explained. "I've been patrolling around for Draow and I saw you two. I wanted to give you my report."

A report? Did this mean that Biclops had found something? Penny could feel her heart fluttering a little at this possibility. If Biclops had found something that could lead them to Snap and the others...

"That's great, Biclops!" Rudy said excitedly. "The only thing I've heard is that Draow went in the direction where Mr. Cosmo was having me take this test and..."

Biclops's face suddenly went white, his body stiffening up. The look in his eyes, it was difficult for Rudy and Penny to look away. It was clear that something about what Rudy said triggered something in the giant. But what could that be? Neither teen could think of it, unless... Could it have something to do with...

Penny whispered softly, "B-Biclops? What's..." She was hesitant and careful, not wanting to accidentally upset the giant further. She was struggling against her own racing heart.

"D-Did you say M-M-Mr. Cosmo...?" Biclops asked slowlyand carefully. His eyes seemed to glow a little in some kind of emotion. Though its exact identity was unclear.

Rudy nodded. He bit his lip, hesitating to say anything. Eventually, he forced himself to ask the question that both he and Penny were thinking of. "Do you know him?"

Biclops stared at the two children for several long moments. Then his eyes narrowed slowly and when he replied, his voice sounded as though it had darkened several shades. "Of course I know him. He's my creator..."

Rudy and Penny stared at Biclops for a few seconds before the implications of what he said came crashing down upon them. The two teens gasped loudly, covering their mouths with their hands. They looked at each other, blinking quickly. Memories flashed in the back of their head. They were both well aware of what Biclops had told them before. And if he were right on this...

Penny never felt so dizzy and sick at the same time so fast before.